Relationships
by Pozsich
Summary: The title says it all. Let's explore relationships in which people are people, rather than emotional puppets, shall we? Further premise explanation at start of chapter one.
1. White Rose - Part I - Reciprocation

Premise of this series

This is a series dedicated to looking at how various ships work. As actual people, rather than people who inexplicably have their emotions warped around to fit the desires of the author.

The format is as follows: Arc One - Chapter 1-X will be ship one. Arc Two - Chapter X-X will be ship two. So on and so forth. I will never change ships without finishing the arc of the ship I'm on. I will not repeat ships that already have an arc. Arcs will not be related.

I am open for requests as to which pairing comes next, as I have no particular order. That said, I'm going to have an ambitious arc one.

Let's see if I can't put a new spin on the grand cruiser of RWBY ships.

* * *

**Arc**** One:**

**White Rose**

* * *

_Part One - __Reciprocation_

* * *

_Spinning a pencil on her finger is the _most _productive thing she's done today, isn't it?_ _Patience, Weiss, patience. You told yourself you would be the best teammate ever. Give her time, maybe she'll - _

"Weiss, can I eat a cookie now?"

Weiss slammed her pencil down on the table and stood, her chair screeching against the floor as it flew backwards. Before she even knew what she was doing Weiss shouted, "RUBY! YOU HAVEN'T DONE A SINGLE THING ALL DAY!"

Ruby dropped her pencil, startled by the outburst, and hastily assumed her best puppy dog eyes. "But _Weeeiiiissss_, I just don't understand what we're doing! You never help me!"

Weiss, for all intents and purposes, considered herself reasonable. She considered herself level headed. She knew it was her job to stay calm if she wanted to work well with Ruby.

Unfortunately, things don't always pan out as planned.

"I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU!" Weiss turned and strutted away, too furious to notice the librarian who was staring at her, appalled by Weiss's behavior in the library. She was certainly too furious to even care what Ruby's reaction was.

* * *

"Ooookay. Here's the thing, Yang. You can always give me advice, right?"

"I charge the right to two puns per advice given, but yes. You can always count on me, Rubes!" A bright smile, carefree and boisterous, managed to lift Ruby's spirits a bit.

"Great! How do I stop Weiss from being mad at me?"

"Oh. You're screwed." Ruby frowned at her big sister, her face quickly forming a pout. An adorable pout, in Yang's opinion, but a pout nonetheless. "Okay okay, there might be hope. What did you do to make her mad?"

"I, uh, I don't know." Ruby coyly looked away, not meeting her sister's eyes.

Yang smirked as she said, "Come on now Ruby. You couldn't be more see-through to your bigger sister if you tried to be. Tell me what happened."

Ruby sighed and hesitated, her eyes still not meeting Yang's. "I might have been slacking off and not helping her on the partner assignment for Grimm Anatomical Studies and she might have been doing all the work and being really patient and I might not have been aware of that and I might have ended up complaining unfairly and I'm not really sure but I really, really, reeaally want to make things right!" Ruby let the entire confession out in one big whoosh of air, leaving Yang blinking as she tried to process the jumbled information.

"...Okay, you're definitely screwed."

"Yang!"

"I'm just kidding! Look, Weiss has been trying really hard to be a good partner, right? Just try to return that a bit more then. She'll appreciate it more than you might expect her to. I recommend actually going and doing some of the work you were _supposed_ to be doing when she got angry..." Yang trailed off meaningfully before patting her sister on the shoulder and exiting the dorm room. As she left she called over her shoulder, "You just gotta yang in there, Rubes!"

Yang heard one last groan from her sister before the door closed, chuckling and shaking her head as she walked away.

_I sure hope that works out all right... If not... Nah, Weiss knows I hit hard. It'll be fine._

* * *

It started, as all things Ruby started, with good intentions. Return to the library, pick up their stuff from the table, return to the dorm, work on it until Weiss returned, and then apologize. No plan had ever been devised that was more fool proof, she was sure of it.

So why, oh why, did their stuff have to be missing when she returned to the library?

_It was right here._ Ruby desperately searched the table, looking under it and running her fingers across the surface as if hoping their material were merely invisible. _All of it, all of our books were right here!_

After several fruitless minutes, Ruby decided to approach the librarian. She was afraid the strict woman would be annoyed with her, but that she always tried her best to help students regardless. Worth the risk of her wrath to avoid Weiss's, in Ruby's opinion.

"Um... Excuse me?" Ruby whispered shyly, afraid of making the woman snap before they had even begun conversing.

She looked up from the book she had been reading behind the counter, quickly standing to greet Ruby. "Hello. Do you need something?"

"I, er, yes. I was working with my partner in here earlier..." The librarian sniffed crossly, evidently aware of who she was referring to. Ruby pressed on regardless, "But now I came back and our stuff is all missing. Do you know who might have taken it?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "You aren't supposed to leave your things in the library, and I'm not responsible for lost items." She sat down and opened her book, and Ruby sighed despondently before turning to leave. As she did, though, she heard the woman call out to her. "Your 'friend' came back for your things. She had to struggle quite a bit, carrying your bags along with hers." The librarian sounded an annoying mix of smug and amused, but Ruby didn't pause to think about that. Weiss had carried all of their stuff?! She would be furious!

Ruby hurried out of the library and began running back to the dorm room, hoping to salvage her plan with at least getting the 'apologize' part right.

* * *

Ruby crashed into the dorm room door at full force, flinging it open as she entered.

The sole occupant was Blake, who looked startled at Ruby's dramatic entrance. "Ruby, why are you in such a hurry?"

Ruby paused for breath before replying, "I'm looking for Weiss. Have you seen her anywhere?"

Blake frowned, her head tilting quizzically. "That doesn't answer my question. You can search for Weiss without running around."

"Yeah, but..."

"You also have a scroll specifically for contacting other members of Beacon."

Ruby froze at that, and Blake sighed in exasperation. "You know, rushing around like that without thinking is the reason you're having trouble with Weiss."

Ruby's eyes flashed indignantly. "What did Yang tell you?!"

Blake chuckled a bit at that, a wry smile on her face. "Yang doesn't have to tell me anything. It's obvious you and Weiss would have trouble getting along. Her entire life has been structured, and she was raised in an environment similar to old nobility. As much of a brat as she seems when interacting with us 'commoners', Weiss is hard-coded to think about everything she does. It'd be disastrous in a high class setting for a person to act without thinking. She's literally your opposite."

Ruby scuffed the ground with her boot, taken aback. Trying to change the topic, she asked, "Have you put a lot of thought into this? You don't normally talk this much."

"You'd normally be excited to hear me talk so much."

"Yeah, but..."

"But it's not as exciting when it's bad news."

"... Okay, I think I liked you better when you were quiet." It was a childish thing to say, and not well considered, but she was quickly walking back out of the room to avoid Blake's response.

She was not entirely successful, however, as she heard Blake call after her, "Weiss is in Professor Port's classroom working!"

Ruby sighed in relief, not wanting to search the school for Weiss... or admit that she had left her pocket sized scroll in her bag.

* * *

_Apologize first. No, offer to help first. No no, ask her if she wants to head to dinner first. NO! AGH, WHAT DO I DO?!_

Thinking about apologizing was certainly not Ruby Rose's strong suit. This could be said to be twice as true when the apology in question needed to be delivered to her partner, Weiss Schnee.

_Yang said she would appreciate it if I tried to be a good partner back. That means I offer to help work, right? Or does it mean I should be concerned about her not eating, and offer to take us to a nice restaurant? Wait. This is Weiss SCHNEE. A 'nice' restaurant for her would require a reservation and six months of allowance for me. I don't have that much time or money!_

To call it unproductive would be generous. To say it was only weird looking that she was pacing around the entrance of Professor Port's classroom, running her fingers through her hair anxiously, would be even more generous. Fortunately, she was too busy with her own thoughts to notice the trickle of students leaving detentions and make-up lessons whom were giving her strange looks. Unfortunately, she was too busy with her own thoughts to notice the sound of Weiss bidding Professor Port a fond farewell, thanking him for letting her work in the peace and quiet of his classroom.

Thus it was that Weiss opened the door of the classroom, a cool blast of air rushing past her, to find Ruby nervously pacing back and forth in front of her. Completely oblivious to her.

"Dolt." No reaction. That was annoying. "Dolt!"

"Is something the matter, Miss Schnee?" Professor Port spoke from behind her, still seated at his desk.

Weiss looked over her shoulder, her cheeks blushing lightly as she realized she must look like a fool to him since he couldn't see Ruby. "Nothing at all Professor! I'll be going now."

"Have a good evening, Miss Schnee. I look forward to that project from you and your partner in our next lesson."

"... Yes, Professor." Weiss stepped through the doorway and pulled the large door closed behind her. In the process she stepped close enough to Ruby that her shoes fell inside of Ruby's vision, and Ruby froze stock still.

"Weiss?" Ruby looked up, and blanched at being confronted with her partner, who had a familiar scowl on her face.

_Not good. I haven't decided yet!_

"Oh, heeey, Weiss! I was just looking for you! You wanna go eat at a nice restaurant while we work on our project and I apologize for everything?"

Split second decisions were not Ruby Rose's strong suit.

* * *

"Weiss."

"Ruby."

"For the millionth time, I have to ask-"

"For the millionth time, stop making me say no."

"_BUT WEEEIIISSSS!_" Ruby pitched her voice into a whine, her eyes doing their best puppy impression. An impersonation which Weiss was glad she was nearly immune to, as controlling her partner would be impossible otherwise.

Still, she was still only _nearly_ immune to it. "Ruby, I will NOT start our presentation with the joke 'Don't let Nevermores get you down, Nevermore will they drag you down!'"

"But it's catchy..." Ruby gave up the puppy eyes, mumbling under her breath as she pouted.

"Let me put it this way, Ruby."

"Yes?" Excitement sparked in Ruby's voice, hoping Weiss had come up with a compromise of some sort.

"It sounds like the sort of joke Yang would make."

"Hey! That's mean!" Ruby cried it out at the same time as Yang, who had been listening in from her bunk. At the sound of each other's voices they turned to look at each other.

"Ruby! That was even more mean! Stop turning into Weiss!" Yang sounded hurt, doing her own pouting routine. Luckily for everyone, Yang was not nearly as good at pouting as Ruby was, and the tense atmosphere quickly disarmed itself as all four girls broke out laughing.

It was a pleasant Sunday morning, their last day before their projects for Grimm Anatomical Studies were due. Blake and Yang had finished nearly a week ago, because Yang was always willing to work when Blake asked her to. At the beginning of the year Weiss had thought Blake's partner was as useless as her own, but she had gradually grown to envy the cooperation the duo had. Yang _was_ similar to Ruby in academic terms, insofar she was not a hard worker and she wasn't a natural genius. Unlike Ruby, though, she seemed to take the idea of reliability very seriously. Whenever she was part of a group assessment of any sort she gave it her all, and Weiss had come to admire that about the girl. If only her own partner could be so trustworthy.

Well, maybe that was unfair. It had been a few days since the day Weiss had stormed out of the library on Ruby, and a lot had gone well since then. That day had been a stressful one, and it had been the first time in a while Weiss lost her head when it came to dealing with Ruby. Still, if she had known how much Ruby would change once that happened, she would have done so much sooner. The younger girl had taken to working on the project with a fire she had never used on schoolwork before, so enthusiastic that, at times, Weiss felt like _she_ was the one contributing less. Not that she would ever admit something like that.

The results of Ruby's hard work combined with Weiss's own efforts had resulted in a truly spectacular result, if Weiss had to put a word to it. Rather than finishing with merely 'above average', as was normal for them, they had finished with a guaranteed perfect score. The project was two parts, half presentation and half detailed essay. Their presentation board had been almost entirely made by Ruby, and though Weiss protested the glitter, she had to admit it looked much better than the ones Weiss herself usually made. Hers normally ended up lacking... That is to say, were plain and boring, meant only to effectively convey information. With Ruby's help, their board was both neat and showy. The essay was as immaculate as it always was, since Weiss would never accept less than perfect on a write up, but it had been significantly easier with Ruby's input.

"Hey sis, congrats on doing the impossible!" Yang gave a mock cheer for her sister, earning an embarrassed glare from her younger sibling. Weiss completely ignored the blond, in too good of a mood to let Yang ruin it.

"Ruby let's go eat in Vale for dinner. My treat."

Ruby's mouth dropped open, her eyes growing as large as saucers. "Really Weiss?!" When Weiss nodded with a small smile, Ruby squealed in excitement.

She also didn't miss the chance to stick her tongue out at Yang, who was scowling at her. Yang whispered loudly, "_My_ partner never rewards me. My luck is as bad as if I ran across a black cat."

Everyone threw pillows at her in unison.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all liked it! It's meant to be a mix of "funny and cutesy" as LazyKatze called it. Speaking of her, she helped to quality check this chapter, so a big thanks to her for that! **

**How voting for the next ship works: Leave a review or PM me with the name of the ship you want to see next arc. Voting is open until this arc is done, it closes with the final chapter of this arc so I can tally votes and quickly start working on the next arc.**


	2. White Rose - Part II - Unrequited Love

_Part II- Unrequited Love_

* * *

Yang snickered loudly as she watched Ruby and Weiss getting ready for their evening out. Weiss had insisted they wear formal attire, and it had quickly become apparent that Ruby had a grand total of zero dresses. Upon discovering this, Weiss declared she would still be okay with Ruby whatever it was she normally wore to formal events, even if it wasn't a dress.

The look on Weiss's face when Ruby told her she wore her combat skirt to formal events had been priceless.

So now they were putting on a rather amusing show for Yang and Blake, much to Weiss's satisfaction and Ruby's humiliation. That game was, of course, dress up. Specifically, having Ruby dress up in every single dress Weiss owned to try to find one that looked good on her. Ruby protested _all_ of them, of course, since they were all white with light sky blue accents, but the other three agreed they could find one that would work.

Ruby's attempts at running had been unsuccessful, as Yang had quickly told Blake to catch her if she used her semblance, so now she was stuck playing the game.

The door to the bathroom opened and Ruby poked her head out, a furious blush on her cheeks. "Weiss, there's no way I can wear this one! It's _so_ embarrassing!" Weiss didn't reply, just frowned and pointed for Ruby to return to the bathroom and change.

Blake looked up from her book to Weiss curiously. "What's so bad about that dress? She practically sounded scared."

"Oh, you'll see. It's the only dress in my collection I actually wouldn't want her to wear tonight."

"Then why are you making her try it on?"

Yang replied for Weiss, "Because it's funny!" Weiss gave a small self satisfied nod as she agreed with Yang.

The door opened and Ruby slowly sidled out, her head bowed to avoid looking at any of her teammates. Not an unjustified way to behave, considering Yang's reaction to the dress was to wolf whistle before breaking out laughing.

"Please, stop! Weiss, it's too much! I'll die if she goes through any more dresses like that!" Yang was rolling around on her bed, coming dangerously close to falling off but never quite going over the edge.

Blake's reaction was much more subdued, burying her head into her book to hide her blush from seeing what Ruby was wearing. She muttered something along the lines of, "Ridiculous, making a fifteen year old wear that."

The dress in question was one Weiss had only brought to Beacon as a small way of spiting her father, who had been beside himself with anger when a relative gave it to Weiss for her seventeenth birthday. She could remember his reaction perfectly when he saw it, his face first horrified, then twisting into disgust and anger. He had shouted, 'My daughter is _not_ some low born street walker, by god! Get this dress out of my sight!' The servants had hastily complied, but still hadn't dared throwing the dress out in fear of angering the woman who had gifted it to Weiss. Instead, they had hung it up in Weiss's closet, and the piece of fabric had become a taboo subject in the Schnee manor.

Now, though, Weiss was satisfied with having kept it. Ruby still hadn't looked up, her hands fidgeting with each other as she stared at the floorboards. Weiss finally sighed and said, "Go change out of it then. Try to get your face to not look like a tomato by the time you come back." Ruby hastily retreated into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Yang rolled to the edge of her bed to look at Weiss, her arm dangling off the side. "Princess, you have _got_ to tell me the story behind that dress someday."

Weiss shot her an irritated look before replying,"Yang, I do not like that nickname."

"I dunno. I'm feline fine about using it."

Blake and Weiss looked at each other for a moment, nodded slightly, and spoke in unison. "I hate you Yang."

* * *

Weiss breathed into her hands, rubbing them together to chase away the chill. "It's only just turning to Autumn, why is it already so cold outside?" She complained to Ruby, who was sitting across from her at the table.

"Dunno. Just bad luck, I guess. Also a good reason not to wear dresses..." Ruby trailed off purposefully, her eyes darting to meet Weiss's.

"Don't be ridiculous. We're already here, we're not leaving to change." Weiss said it coldly, disliking Ruby's insistent attempts at getting out of wearing the dress they had chosen for her. When Ruby sighed glumly, though, Weiss added in a softer tone, "You look fine, Ruby. Yang herself gave her seal of approval, what more do you want?"

"To not need to dress up and need a seal of approval."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Ruby's tone, but let it slide. "Well, nevermind that anyways. What do you think of this restaurant? Have you ever eaten here before?"

Ruby looked around, taking in the environment again, before shaking her head. "I've lived in Vale my whole life but I've never been here. It's... nice."

"You don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

"Ruby." Weiss stressed her partner's name, her eyes narrowing again, much more dangerously this time.

"It's just so stiff. I mean, look around. Look at how the people interact, look at how the customers sit and at how the waiters walk. Everyone's more focused on being 'proper' than on having a good time. Isn't eating out with friends supposed to be about having a fun time together?"

Weiss considered for a long moment before replying, turning the words over in her head to be sure she was confident in her reply. "To most people who eat here, acting proper is not something that has to be forced. It's as natural as breathing. As for what eating out is about, I suppose it's just differentiation in expectation."

"What do you mean?"

"You want to have fun? That's not really something I look to in outings."

Ruby blinked in confusion. "I don't get it. What's the point of spending money to go somewhere to eat if you're not going to enjoy it?"

"That's not what I said. I find doing things like this pleasant. They're a refreshing break of pace from what we do on almost every other day. It's nice to eat out, and it's nice to eat food prepared by professionals. It's not 'fun' in the way you mean, but I do enjoy it." Weiss calmly sipped at her tea as she spoke, idly wondering how long it would be until their food arrived. Probably not more than a few minutes, if the quality of the service was as good as reported.

Ruby was quiet for a minute, resting her head on her palm as she leaned her elbow into the table.

_She's completely ruffling my dress!_ Weiss beat back a moment of frustration. Weiss and Yang, since Blake had declined to look up from her book after certain dress, had settled on a simple dress for Ruby, a plain white save for a red trim that faded as it went away from the edges. The shoulder straps were fairly wide and it went up high enough to cover any cleavage, but still left her upper chest exposed—a feature she had protested strongly. The skirt wasn't long, reaching just around her knees.

Ruby spoke suddenly, "So what do people do here? Are we still allowed to talk and stuff?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "What have we _been_ doing you dolt?"

Ruby giggled a little, seeming to relax from the familiarity of the insult. Odd, in Weiss's opinion, but good to see.

"Ruby, the point of eating out at a nice restaurant is very simple. We enjoy the atmosphere, the decor. We enjoy the food. We enjoy each other's company. It may be more reserved than you're used to, but I'm certain the concept really isn't that different."

Ruby flashed a grin at her, sitting up a bit straighter. "Yeah, I guess it isn't."

* * *

Ruby led the way out, holding the door for Weiss as a leader should. She thought she saw Weiss roll her eyes, but she couldn't be sure.

"So, did I act well enough?" Ruby broke into a smile, stretching her hands over her head and popping her neck back and forth. "I'm so stiff though." Seeing Weiss looking at her incredulously, she hastily added, "Not that I didn't appreciate your posture lecture! It was, ahem," her voice shifted tones into an overdone Weiss impersonation, "it was simply lovely. The food was divine, the staff splendid."

Weiss sighed in exasperation, but still gave Ruby a small smile for her efforts.

"...That was a terrible impersonation."

"Sorry. So, what do you want to do?"

"Return to Beacon, I presume. Did you have other plans in mind?"

Ruby's mind raced through the options. She didn't want to return to Beacon just yet; she wanted to spend more time with Weiss. She stumblingly offered a suggestion, "We could... I dunno, walk around. See if something exciting happens."

Weiss frowned. "That sounds like an awful waste of time."

"Come on Weiss, we never come to Vale unless the teachers are making us do something!" A flash of irritation passed over Weiss's face, though it quickly returned to her normal impassive expression.

_Wait. Remember what Yang told you. No begging! That's childish! You'll drive her away!_

_ ... How you ask someone to do something without begging?_

Ruby's thoughts were intruded upon by Weiss's voice.

"Fine. We can 'just walk around.' If you have no suggestions, let's go to the park." Weiss spoke easily, as if she herself had come up with the idea rather than Ruby. Ruby beamed at her partner, happily taking her hand and skipping forward without saying any more.

_This is great! Well, maybe not the park part. But still! Success!_

"Ruby! I didn't say anything about—ahh!" Weiss was abruptly jerked forward by Ruby, who was paying her no mind. Weiss quickly settled into a jog to keep up.

"Ruby! Not all of us are wearing dresses that are easy to move in!" Ruby turned her head back to look at Weiss, and immediately slowed down when her eyes landed on Weiss's legs, which were covered by her dress down to halfway up her calves..

"Sorry. I forgot your dress goes down so far." Ruby felt a bit sheepish, but quickly perked up. "Still, let's go! Fast walk?" She put her best cute face on for the request, putting on a lip quiver as an after effect that even Yang would've fallen for instantly.

Weiss smiled and nodded consent, and the pair set off to the park. Ruby firmly held Weiss's hand the whole way.

* * *

Weiss looked around the park, nodding to herself. This had been a good place to come to. She doubted anything exciting would happen, but she doubted they would randomly stumble on something exciting if they had walked about the city aimlessly either. Plus, the park was _much_ nicer than the rest of the city, in Weiss's opinion. It was fairly large, and mostly unused at night. Most of its use was for people walking their dogs, or kids playing sports in the day.

Some of the trees had begun to change colors for Autumn already, and in the midst of their branches there were specks of fiery gold where leaves were being set to a wonderously bright glow by the last light of the sun before it set.

Ruby shivered a bit, pressing closer to Weiss. "It's awfully cold out here, don't you think?"

Weiss shrugged. "It's not that bad. I thought it was worse earlier, when the wind was blowing. Do you want my gloves to keep your hands warm?"

Ruby quickly detached herself from Weiss, holding up her hands and waving them in refusal. "No! No, that's not what I wanted."

Weiss raised an eyebrow questioningly. "There was something else you wanted?"

"No! Well, yes, but I mean no!"

"That makes no sense."

"... I know." Ruby sounded distraught, so Weiss decided to let the matter drop.

Instead, Weiss directed her partner's attention to the trees. "It's wonderful how the sun makes those few yellow leaves stand out. The scenery here is so picturesque, it's perfect for a painting."

Ruby smiled. "It'd be hard to capture something like this though, wouldn't it? Dusk doesn't last all that long."

"All the more reason to appreciate it while it's here."

Ruby nodded in mute agreement, and the duo walked along quietly, conversation ceasing. Weiss was honestly fond of admiring the scenery, reveling in the quiet, still beauty of it, but she kept noticing out of the corner of her eye that Ruby was acting oddly. Specifically, Ruby wasn't looking at the scenery at all. Her attention seemed to be focused entirely on Weiss herself. From what Weiss could tell, Ruby was purposefully trailing behind a small amount, watching Weiss walk.

It was quite disconcerting, actually, and Weiss had no idea why Ruby was acting so strangely. Hoping to get her attention on something else, Weiss quietly spoke. "Thanks for suggesting we 'just walk around,' as you put it. I think you should work on the presentation, but the idea is pleasant. This place is lovely, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, you are," Ruby spoke absentmindedly, as if she weren't really paying attention, but Weiss froze in her tracks, resulting in Ruby also drawing to a halt abruptly.

_What did she just say?_

"Weiss?" Ruby sounded more herself now, but now Weiss was the one not paying attention to her partner.

_She did _not_ just say that. Or she didn't mean it that way. _Weiss felt a blush growing on her cheeks at the thought of Ruby's words.

She spun on her heel to stare at Ruby, who looked startled by the sudden movement. "What did you just say to me?"

"Uh...? Well I've been calling you name for a bit, if that's—"

"No. Before that."

Ruby paused, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I don't remember anything before that. I was just walking with you, admiring y—the, uh, the trees. Lovely aren't they?" She spoke easily until she stumbled mid sentence, and then her voice hitched into a more panicked tone. Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"You called me lovely."

"I what?"

"I said the park is lovely, and you replied with 'yeah, you are.'" Weiss heard her voice growing a bit louder, her tone becoming increasingly irate, but she paid no mind to it.

They stared into each other's eyes for a solid minute, and Weiss saw a torrent of emotions in Ruby's eyes. Fear, panic, embarrassment. Ruby broke eye contact first, bowing her head a little bit.

"Well? Do you have anything to add?" Any gentle tones from before, any warmth that had been in Weiss's voice, any indication that they had grown closer, were all gone. Her eyes were hard, and her voice was cold.

Ruby scuffled her feet. What was going on in her mind, Weiss had no idea. But she was still patient, giving Ruby as much time as she needed to formulate a response.

When Ruby finally did look up, she still looked scared. "I dunno. I think I like you as... well, you know, as more than a friend."

Weiss tilted her head back to look at the darkening sky, which was now a deep violet as the last of the sun's light well and truly began fading away. When she spoke her voice was much softer, but still cool. "You don't even know what emotions like that mean, you dolt. You're a fifteen year old." She turned her gaze downwards to look Ruby in the eyes as she continued. "Furthermore, I've never liked a girl _that way_ in my life, and I doubt I'm going to start to just because you like me. I'm heading back to Beacon. I don't want to talk about this again, understand? After we part, we can pretend this didn't happen."

Ruby's face went taut, her eyes flashing with pain. "I bet the only reason you've never liked a girl is because you've never liked anyone at all!"

A moment of silence passed, the tension in the air thick enough to cut. Ruby was still staring at Weiss, tears forming in her eyes and her expression angry. Weiss was returning the stare, but she was shocked, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

The silence ended with Weiss screaming, "YOU BRAT! RUBY! I DON'T EVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS AGAIN!" Weiss turned on her heel and walked away as quickly as she could in her dress, her movements stiff and awkward from her fury.

_Dolt!_

* * *

**A/N: Well. That was a thing.**_  
_

**You know, Ruby could have totally played her comment off as a compliment if she had been thinking on her toes. But I don't tend to think of Ruby Rose as a quick thinker in social situations. More like a person flailing their arms about as they try not to smack their heads into anything while in a dark room. **

**I hope you all liked it. Once again, thanks to LazyKatze for feedback and help editing.**


	3. White Rose - Part III - Reparations

_Part III - Reparations_

* * *

Ruby couldn't remember the last time the dorm room had been this awkward to be in. Probably when Blake had run away after telling them she had been with the White Fang. That had been bad, but this was worse. This time all of Weiss's anger was directed at _her_, and to make it _even worse_ Ruby couldn't figure out what she had done wrong!

Okay, she _did_ throw out a little bit of a really big insult, but only because Weiss was so mean to her first!

Ruby sighed in her bunk, nervously pushing the sheet walls of her bed fortress aside a bit to peek out. Weiss was still seated at the desk pushed up against the window, working diligently to finish her school work. Ruby wasn't sure _what_ Weiss could be working on so early in the morning, but she sure wasn't going to ask.

Blake was in her favorite spot in Beacon—her bed. By the looks of her hair she had recently climbed out of the shower, but she was dressed and ready for class. Yang wasn't in sight, but Ruby could hear singing on the other side of the wall her bed was next to, so that was no mystery.

Ruby looked at Weiss for a moment before retreating, letting the sheet fall back to hide her from the world again. She had already been caught staring once, and _that_ had proven to be a disaster.

She shifted around in her bed to be farther from Weiss, and tried peeking out again, hoping moving would make it so Weiss wouldn't notice her. Unfortunately, Weiss must have heard her moving so much, because when she pushed the sheets away to look out she found herself making eye contact with Weiss, who was staring directly at her.

_Meep!_

Ruby immediately retreated, heart pounding. Weiss's eyes had not looked friendly. Not as angry as before, but she was definitely not in a mood for talking.

The door to the bathroom opened and Ruby heard Yang sing out, "Rubyyy! I left the hot water running, you'd better hurry before they shut off hot water to our roooom!"

Ruby scrambled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, all thoughts of Weiss gone in her haste, sending Yang the fiercest glare she could muster on her way. Yang knew Ruby _hated_ cold showers, they gave her goosebumps. Yang only chuckled at her glare, ruffling her hair as she went past.

Ruby sighed as she shut the door behind her. She approached the shower, still running as Yang said, and tentatively reached a hand towards it. She jerked it back with a yelp when she felt the water; it was ice cold.

Ruby groaned in frustration. Today was going to be a rough day.

* * *

Ruby cracked the bathroom door open, peeking out nervously. "Yang? Can you bring me some clean clothes?"

"Forget to take any in?" Ruby couldn't see Yang, but she could practically hear the smirk on Yang's face.

"Yeah, because _some_ people in this dorm have no common courtesy!" Ruby couldn't help but feeling angry at Yang for ruining the morning like this. That shower would have most likely been the best part of her day, if only it had been warm.

"No towel?"

Ruby's face lit up with a blush as she admitted, "I dropped it on the floor. It's soaking wet and there are no extras."

"Oh well, guess you'll have to settle for wearing nothing. By the way, Weiss and Blake already left, so you're safe to come out."

"Yang! I don't wanna be naked in front of _anyone_, including you!"

"Not like I haven't seen you naked before..."

_"Yang!"_

"Fine, I'll stuff my face into a pillow. Use your semblance or something. All I know is I'm not getting up." Yang paused for a moment, then called out again, significantly muffled. "You're good to go!"

Ruby pushed the door open a bit more, looking out into the room. The black and white girls were indeed missing, and Yang was doing as she'd promised. Ruby almost laughed at the sight, Yang's face stuffed in a pillow with her hair everywhere and her feet waving back and forth in the air as she waited.

Ruby darted across the room with her semblance, threw the closet open, hastily grabbed a uniform off the rack, and—

"Meh, seen it before." Yang's voice wasn't muffled.

Ruby used her semblance to dash back across the room, pausing to yell, "You're a JERK!" before slamming the door closed.

Ruby groaned again. _Damnit Yang._ She quickly changed into her uniform before stepping back out into the dorm, Yang giving her an innocent grin.

"You suck at innocent expressions, Yang."

"Thanks. Anyways, mission accomplished! Shall we go to breakfast, sis?"

Ruby blinked. "Mission accomplished? I'm not sure I believe you if you say you had any goal except to annoy me."

Yang looked at her pointedly as she swung her legs over the side of her bed, preparing to jump down. Upon landing, Yang straightened to her full height and asked, "Aren't you in a better mood than when you were hiding in your floating fortress? Too afraid of Weiss's tongue cutting you to even climb out?"

The instant Yang mentioned the name 'Weiss', Ruby's heart did indeed plummet. "I guess I was. Not anymore. I'm so confused."

Yang nodded, a look of 'I told you so' on her face. "That's what happens when you question the wisdom and the missions of your older sister!" Yang slipped on her shoes and gestured for Ruby to do the same. "Come on, let's go eat."

Ruby slipped her shoes on and followed Yang out of their room, trailing behind her sister as they headed towards the cafeteria. Once they reached the cafeteria, Ruby was surprised to see Blake and Weiss weren't there. After getting their food, she and Yang sat down at their usual table, joining Team JNPR mid meal.

"Heya guys, you seen our partners anywhere?" Yang spoke casually, addressing all four of their friends.

"Yup. They ate and left already." Jaune leaned in a bit, saying in a conspiratory whisper, "Weiss looked like she was in an even _worse_ mood than usual! Wonder what happened?"

Ren sipped his tea for a moment before speaking pointedly. "Jaune, talking behind a person's back is bad. It's even worse when you do it about something you didn't notice yourself. Pyrrha is the one who asked you what you thought was wrong with Weiss, and you replied you didn't notice anything wrong at all."

Jaune looked so embarrassed that Ruby actually laughed for the first time that day, a large smile on her face. "Cheer up Jaune, at least it wasn't Nora pointing something else out to you."

"Like the time Jaune didn't realize he was holding a poisonous snake until Nora told him?" Yang grinned a bit maliciously at that, making Jaune go pale as he recalled the event.

Nora, completely oblivious to the discussion going on about her, suddenly turned to Ren and asked, "Ren, did Weiss not use syrup on her pancakes? I think that might be the problem."

It was a pleasant breakfast, filled with friendly banter and idle chatter. It did well in distracting Ruby, but unfortunately it did come to an end, and Ruby had to face reality. They only had one class today, and that was Grimm Anatomical Studies.

* * *

Weiss and Blake sat quietly in Professor Port's room, waiting as it gradually filled with students as the period's starting time drew closer. Weiss found herself with very little to do, ultimately resorting to writing in her journal as she waited even though she had nothing new to add. Blake was reading, as per usual. Today's book was a thick leather bound tome, surprisingly off-beat for the faunus.

Hoping to strike up a conversation, Weiss asked, "What's that book for? It doesn't look like the sort of books you normally read for fun."

Blakes eyes flicked over to her in acknowledgement before returning to the page, reading while she spoke, "I've been reading about human and faunus conflicts, actually. I recently found out that the popular way we think the conflicts started in earnest might be untrue. Since then, I've gotten over a dozen books on the topic of the beginning of the wars, and I've found they all seem to disagree on how it started."

Weiss was a bit taken aback, not expecting so much of a reply. Nor that the topic would be so dark. "Are you referring to the Lesrandi Conflict? That's not true?"

Blake shook her head. "Can't say for sure. Like I said, they all conflict, and since they _all _conflict _none_ of them can be verified, and I can't say for sure how accurate any of these books are written. Supposedly some of them are based on first hand books, but I haven't found _any_ copies of first hand books to verify that either. It's really quite frustrating."

"So... You're just searching for some that match up?" Weiss marveled at the dedication of her teammate. Maybe it was just a thing readers were okay with. Weiss would have probably given up if she had looked into it in idle curiosity; reading thousands of pages of what was potentially nonsense was not something she would do. The very thought of it gave Weiss a headache.

Blake nodded. "It's been fairly interesting, or else I probably would have dropped it. It's also fun trying to figure out what is and isn't fictitious."

Weiss frowned, "Have you _anything_ of use in answering your original question, though?"

Blake was quiet for a while before replying, and when she spoke it was hesitatingly. "I think the version we're familiar with is most likely falsified, yes. The Lesrandi Conflict, as we've been taught it, started when some angry faunus killed a human governor in Atlas. Almost all of the books I've been reading, on the other hand, seem to agree the conflicts started in earnest in Vytal. Further, the start seems to be much smaller in scale, mostly some minor rioting over discrimination. I can't find any accurate reports on which side started the killing." Blake glanced at Weiss for a moment as she said the last part before falling silent.

Weiss gave a thoughtful hum in reply, watching the last of the students arrive. Among them were Ruby and Yang. Weiss couldn't find it in herself to feel much of anything looking at Ruby, as if her heart had decided Ruby wasn't worth feeling anything towards. That was probably true.

"Hey you two! Ready to present our _amazing_ project, Blakey?" Yang had an easy smile on her face, sitting down next to Blake. Ruby quietly sat on Yang's other side, as far away from Weiss as she could be while staying in the group.

Blake smiled at her partner. "You bet."

Yang tilted her head to look around Blake. "Are you ready to present, Weiss?"

Weiss huffed a bit, tilting her chin up arrogantly. "_I_ am _always_ ready to present my work, Yang."

"Yours and Ruby's, you mean?" Yang's reply was instant, making Weiss wonder for a brief moment if she had been baited into this line of conversation.

Still, Weiss wouldn't let Yang have her way. If she was trying to make Weiss angry, she wouldn't succeed. She nodded stiffly, "Yes. My work, and Ruby's work. Both are ready to be presented."

Yang nodded in satisfaction, leaning back in her seat as she muttered something to Ruby Weiss couldn't hear. Ruby gave a weak smile, then saw Weiss glaring at them still and looked away, her smile gone.

Weiss turned her gaze to the front of the classroom, dedicating her mind to returning to peace. It would do no good to look agitated while presenting. As she settled her thoughts, she heard the bell ring and Professor Port's chair scraping back as he stood to speak.

"Ahem. Ah, students! It's been a fair morning for you all, I'm sure. Without further ado, let us begin presentations of your projects! You've all had a month to work, so I'm sure the results will be splendid!" Port looked down at a paper he held in his hand before looking back up. "As usual, we will start with the class's top ranked pair for projects to set the standard! Miss Schnee and Miss Rose, please, gather your materials from the back and proceed to the front!"

Weiss paid Ruby no mind as they went to the back of the room to gather their materials, only acknowledging her partner long enough to nod at the posterboard, indicating for Ruby to carry it. Ruby did so obligingly without saying anything, still avoiding looking at Weiss. Weiss quickly picked up the folder with their materials and essays and followed Ruby back to the front.

After they set the board up on the table in front of the board, Weiss began. "As you all know, Nevermores are some of the toughest Grimm out there..."

* * *

As their presentation drew to a close, Weiss noted with dissatisfaction that the class hadn't been very attentive. It was understandable, given that Nevermores were one of the most studied Grimm in their course and they had little new to add, but frustrating nonetheless. At least Professor Port had been his usual attentive self, adding in comments and asking for clarification occasionally.

So, it had gone... okay. Weiss had, as usual, done most of the talking. Ruby had only spoken when given cues from Weiss, since it was required for both partners to 'be engaged' in the presentation. Weiss couldn't help feel like there was something they could have done better, though.

"Very well, a project well done! If you'll just hand me your essays and return your board to the back, that will be all." Professor Port clapped politely as he spoke, the class joining in halfheartedly. Weiss moved to turn their materials over to him, only to stop as she heard a halting voice speak behind her.

"Um, e-everyone! I, I'd just like to add something!"

_Don't say it._

"The message we hope this presentation got across to you is this!"

_Damn it, Ruby!_

"Don't let Nevermores get you down! Nevermore will they drag you down! Weissly listen along, and nothing will ever go wrong!" The class promptly erupted in laughter. Whether they were laughing at the terrible jokes or the sheer absurdity of it, Weiss didn't know or care. She closed her eyes for a moment, wrestling her temper into submission before proceeding.

Weiss quickly strutted over to Professor Port and held out the folder, trying to look as dignified as she could while doing so. She saw he was also smiling a bit as he took the folder, gesturing for her to go. Weiss returned to her seat beside Blake, and pointedly ignored the sisters for the rest of class.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon Weiss was alone. She left her team as they went to return to the dorm, instead opting to go to the library. Once there, she quickly made her way to the very back of the massive building, knowing no one _ever_ went to the far side of the library. It was filled with literally ancient tomes that would interest no one, aside from perhaps a history enthusiast.

Or a Grimm enthusiast. Not more than five minutes after beginning to flip through a book at a table, she saw Professor Port. He was perusing the shelves, seeming dissatisfied with whatever he was looking at. He didn't notice her for a minute, as he was walking along a shelf slowly with his eyes trained on the books, but when he turned to go to the next aisle he spotted her. "Miss Schnee! What are you doing back here?"

"Oh, just doing some light reading." Weiss responded smoothly, hoping to avoid a conversation just at the moment. She had no doubt that all he would be thinking about would be Ruby's stupid joke.

No such luck. Professor Port raised one bushy eyebrow and asked, "Here? Not in your dorm? Or, for that matter, in any less inconvenient place?" He waited a moment, seemingly on Weiss's reply, but when she gave none he continued. "Miss Schnee, it occurs you me you might be avoiding someone." He spoke lightly, his gaze returning to the shelves as he spoke, but his message was clear.

Weiss hated that he could read her as easily as if she were a book on one of the shelves he was looking over, filed neatly away to be browsed at any time. His intentions had always been good, as was his advice, but by dust being so see through was frustrating. It was even more so because she couldn't tell with any certainty what he was thinking—His eyebrows gave him an unfair advantage, hiding his eyes from being read.

Still, she tried to steer the conversation away from that. Port had never forced matters before—normally that was what Weiss did. "I'm not trying to avoid anyone at all. I simply felt like being alone."

"You felt like being alone because you don't want to look at your peers after the joke your partner made."

_What the?!_

Weiss looked up from her book haughtily, exclaiming, "That's not true!"

"Then why are you back here?"

Weiss looked back down to her book. Her silence was answer enough.

"Miss Schnee, I understand you wish to be professional, but there is much to be said for being a 'people person' as well."

"A 'people person'? She can't even _talk_ to a stranger without tripping on her own tongue! They only laughed because of how _ridiculously absurd_ it was for her to say that!"

"Do you care about the class's reaction? Or are you worried about your grade?"

Weiss didn't reply, simply continuing to glare at the professor.

"Or, are you secretly worried about Ruby's own reputation?"

"I am _not_—"

"Aren't you?"

Weiss bit her tongue. This was getting out of hand. She stood stiffly, closing her book and picking it up to go. "It's been a pleasure speaking, Professor."

"As it always is, Miss Schnee." The professor returned to browsing the books as Weiss strode stiffly away. She heard him muttering something about poor organization, and felt a flicker of curiosity as to why _he_ had been at the back of the library, but didn't turn around.

* * *

Weiss sighed lightly as she set her tray down on the table and sat down. Alone. She didn't want to be near the rest of them, it would only be awkward. It was for the best for her to be alone, as it had always been.

She just wished she didn't feel such an unexpected ache for where she normally sat. Surrounded by laughter, and by people who didn't go out of their way to treat her differently than she was.

Deciding it was best not to dwell on it, she tried to focus on eating her food. Everything was tasteless, but it didn't matter much to her. She was still too confused about everything that had been happening, too busy trying to sort it out. It probably would have been better not to storm out on the professor. Then again, now, with 20/20 hindsight, it seemed like that was one of the least important things she'd messed up recently.

Figuring out what to do in the future was a lot harder than trying to figure out what had gone wrong, though. Not to mention there were still things that had gone wrong she couldn't figure out.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A voice jerked Weiss out of her reverie, snapping her back straight as she looked up. She found her staring into a pair of curious amber eyes, and she quickly redirected her food back to her tray.

"Hello, Blake. How's your day been?" She spoke a bit stiffly, not sure why Blake wasn't sitting with the others.

"A bit awkward, really. First two of my friends were obviously fighting, but wouldn't tell me what was going on. Then one of them decided the other had gone too far with a joke, and left us down a member for the rest of the day. It's troubling, you know."

Weiss felt a flash of anger, but she bit her tongue as she realized it was misplaced. Blake didn't sound accusatory, she sounded concerned. As of the moment, she might as well have been Weiss's only friend, so she was in no rush to drive the faunus girl away. If anything, Weiss felt a flash of guilt.

Blake continued, a grin on her face. "Still, when I found that missing member it looked like she was in a deadly battle for her life, trying to glare her mashed potatoes to death before they did some unspeakable horror to her.

Weiss felt her face flush a bit, but she chose not to acknowledge Blake's last comment.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Blake. I got angry at Ruby. We probably both don't really like what we said to each other, thinking back on it."

"I would think that if you both realized the other meant no harm, it should be as simple as apologizing."

"It isn't."

"Okay. Explain."

Weiss looked up, growing irritated in spite of knowing Blake Weiss's best interests in mind. "Why are you so determined? Why are you bothering me?"

"Not bothering, helping." Blake spoke as if it was a correction, only driving Weiss's temper up more.

"I _fail _to see how you're helping me right now."

"Maybe if you'd let me, you would. Listen. Why do you think the class didn't care about your project today?"

Weiss was taken off guard by the question. "I, I don't know. Because it's a boring topic. Because we've already covered them in class. Because no one tends to care about these projects anyways."

"Sure, all of that's true. But if you had paid attention to the _other_ presentations, instead of fuming in your own world for the whole class, you might have noticed that everyone _else_ had much more positive results."

Weiss blustered a bit, "That's not true! I was paying attention!"

"What did Yang open our presentation with?"

Weiss racked her brain, trying to remember anything, anything at all. She failed. It seemed silence was quickly becoming a standard answer for her, which was infuriating..

"Weiss, the reason no one liked your presentation is because you and Ruby are fighting, and it was obvious to everyone." Blake spoke matter-o-factly, though Weiss frowned doubtfully.

"I hardly see how our fighting had _anything_ to do with our presentation."

"Well then, I'm sorry you're blind."

"_Excuse me?_"

"What's the formula for your normal presentation?" When Weiss didn't answer, Blake did for her. "You give off a list of facts, people pretend to be interested. Ruby makes a joke, everyone laughs. You continue, people are more involved and interested. Ruby continues making jokes, actively trying to make the other students enjoy themselves. In the end, everyone applauds because your presentation was well put together, amusing, and informative. Today, what was different?"

Weiss hung her head as she recognized what Blake was saying. "Today, Ruby wasn't talking. She only talked when I told her to, and she wasn't trying to joke around." Weiss grimaced a bit when she recognized the truth; Ruby actually helped their grades by joking around. Weiss wondered how else Ruby helped her without Weiss realizing it, and tried imagining how it must make Ruby feel.

It was a bitter feeling.

"Weiss, I know you don't like Ruby's jokes. You want to be professional, and you don't see how making people laugh will improve your grade. But have you ever even tried to see how it does? When people are happy and engaged, it improves the presentation quality. Maybe not in a very direct way, but in a very recognizable way."

Weiss shook her head darkly, refusing to show how completely she had been bested. She retorted, "That joke was still uncalled for. She never asked to use _my name_ in a pun."

Blake laughed at that. "Come on Weiss, it wasn't all bad. Professor Port laughed at the joke too, though _you_ might not have noticed, considering you were trying so hard not to look at him."

Silence fell, and the duo began to focus more on their food than conversation. Quite a bit of time had passed, and the cafeteria wasn't going to be open much longer. Ruby and Yang, and all of Team JNPR, had already left.

"Blake?"

"Yes, Weiss?"

"... Thanks. I'm actually surprised you've been talking to me so much." Weiss tried to make it into a joke, but it came out feebly. Her heart wasn't really in it, and her mind was elsewhere.

Blake looked up at her, a solemn look in her eyes. "Weiss, Team RWBY means everything to me. You all know my past, but you're still willing to let me try to make a better future. I would do anything for any one of you three."

* * *

After they exited the cafeteria Weiss apologized to Blake, saying she needed time alone to think.

As a creature of habit, Weiss found herself heading to the library again. It was open until fairly late, and she would have a few hours to herself there. She didn't think she would need more than that, though if she couldn't figure out what to do about Ruby in that time, she knew she would be lost.

... A bridge to be burned if it came to it.

So, it was only natural for her to be surprised when she found one Ruby Rose already in the library, quietly working on a history report for Professor Oobleck.

* * *

Ruby found herself surprisingly calm. For the first time today, in fact. Yang had suggested having a party with JNPR, but Ruby hadn't wanted to continue the interrogation from dinner. Jaune, the lovable thickhead that he was, had insisted on asking what was wrong between Ruby and Weiss.

Over, and over, and over again.

Ruby had hastily declined, citing her need to work on the history paper Professor Oobleck expected in a few days' time. While it was true that she needed to work, it had mostly been an excuse to get away from her friends for a while.

So here she was, working. Surprisingly, it wasn't quite the level of torture Ruby had expected it to be. She idly wondered if working with Weiss had resulted in her disliking writing less, but quickly quashed that train of thought. It was painful, and unproductive.

_... Painfully unproductive? That too._

Still, history was frustrating. They had been assigned a book and a topic to write over. The problem was her book covered _far_ more than her topic. To make it worse, her topic was a family line of governors in Vale. She was stuck combing through her book, wishing it was on a tablet so she could use a word search feature to ferret out wherever their name appeared.

_What a waste of time._

The writing part wasn't as bad as it usually was, but she slowed down more and more as she did the researching part. For the life of her, though, she couldn't find any way to relate it directly to modern day. Their assignment included 'Find and analyze a modern parallel group, from within the last two hundred years.' The family had been important in their time, to be sure, and they had a huge impact on the growth of Vale early on. If not for them, there may not even _be_ Vale today. One of their rival kingdoms might have absorbed them, rather than the other way around. Unfortunately... That left absolutely no one to compare them to.

'_Remember children, history, as we know it, was written by the victors!' _

She could almost hear Oobleck speaking in her head, and gave a heavy groan of frustration as she laid her head down on the desk.

"Worried?"

Ruby bolted to attention. She knew that voice, it was—

"I have to say, I _never_ expected you to be here." Weiss spoke calmly as she sat down, setting one of her own books on the table.

"Weiss! What are you doing here?!" Ruby panicked, accidentally practically spitting the words out.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. Ruby expected her to be offended, but instead she coolly asked, "Is there something wrong with my being here? I come to the library quite often, you know."

"Oh er, yes... it's fine... of course!" Ruby tried to reassure her partner that she didn't mind her presence, but ended up stumbling and sounding awkward.

_Why, why am I so bad at this? If ever there was a time for Yang to appear... _Ruby looked towards the entrance hopefully, but saw no sign of her boisterous sister.

"What are you working on?"

"Huh?"

"What, are, you, working, on?" Weiss added significant pauses between each word, as if she thought Ruby was too slow to understand her.

Ruby straightened up, doing her very best to look 'more professional.' "History."

"Do you need help?"

Ruby was taken aback by the offer. "Aren't you mad at me?"

Weiss pursed her lips. "I was. Perhaps I shouldn't have been. Maybe I still am. Does it matter? You need help, don't you?"

Ruby looked into Weiss's eyes, trying to figure out what the icy girl was thinking. As per usual, though, they were incredibly impassive. Whether she was purposefully making them so or she truly felt nothing, Ruby had no idea. It was remarkably frustrating, almost like dealing with a human doll. But, then the rage she sometimes displayed seemed to appear out of nowhere, threatening to consume the targets of her wrath.

_My partner is literally a ticking time bomb._ Ruby giggled at the thought, stopping only when she saw Weiss was still looking at her expectantly.

"...Yeah. Thanks." Ruby wasn't sure why she accepted Weiss's offer. Rather, she didn't know why she liked Weiss so strongly to begin with. Maybe it was part of the mystery of her; she was older than Ruby, she was rich beyond belief, she was passionate about the strangest things and didn't care the slightest about things Ruby thought _anyone_ would care about. She was an enigma, and beautiful. Not only beautiful looking, but also a beautifully difficult problem to try to figure out.

"Then let's get started. Show me what you have so far." Weiss was, as normal, all business. As they worked, though, Ruby thought she saw her partner's eyes slowly soften, a warmth creeping into them that Ruby hadn't seen since their dinner the night before.

It was strangely wonderful.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to LazyKatze, as usual. I hope you all liked this chapter, as usual. It was a bit longer than the first two, but I think it was worth it for the amount of character interactions I got in.**


	4. White Rose - Part IV - Regrettable

_Part IV - Regrettable_

* * *

Life slowed down.

Not in any literal way, time marched on regardless of her struggles. But what had been progressing ground to a halt, and her ambitions were slowly whittled away. Frustration was borne from a lack of progress, and confusion from a lack of signs.

One way or another, Ruby wished she could move again, but instead here she was, pencil scratching away at a paper. Not for the first time, she found herself insulting Beacon in her head.

_Some 'prestigious combat school' this is. They launch you into life or death situations and then reward your success with hours of reading and writing._

_ How is math even useful to a huntress?!_

Ruby set her pencil down and stood up, walking over to look out the window at Beacon's grounds. She had a clear view of the grassy fields surrounding the school, stretching clear away to the edge of the forest. From there, the Emerald Forest stretched onto the horizon, as distantly as her eyes could see. Two seas of green, grass and leaves, only barely different looking but separated by a thin line of brown and black trunks where the trees sprung up to hold themselves above the rest of the foliage.

The sky was clear, and the air cool. A perfect day for running. A perfect day for shooting, sparring, or hunting. A perfect day for _anything_ other than sitting inside.

_Work first, play later. _Weiss's voice rattled around in her head, urging her to finish her school work.

_Do whatever, have fun!_ Yang would say it didn't matter as much as having a good time.

_Be conscious of the consequences of your actions. _Well... Ruby didn't really understand what Blake meant. But that was fine, she wanted to listen to Yang's advice anyways.

So it was with a hum in her throat and a bounce in her step that Ruby picked up her things and returned to the dorm, dumping them on her bed before proceeding out to the grounds. It wasn't due for a week anyways, and Sunday was a day off! No classes, no work! Normally Weiss would make her work, but not today!

... Not today. Because Weiss wasn't talking to her.

Ruby stubbornly brushed that train of thought away and proceeded into the forest, pulling out Crescent Rose to rest the shaft against her shoulder, the giant blade curving back towards her and cutting through the air as she skipped further into the woods.

* * *

_Badbadbadbadbad—_

Jump, push off, roll, stand.

_Nonononono—_

Fire, fire, block, jump back.

_Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink—_

Block, block, spin, step.

_Gonna get stabbed, clawed, eaten—_

A stinger caught her in the base of her back, flinging her away and against a tree.

_THINKPOSITIVETHINKPOSITIVE—_

Her aura had come up in time, but pain had still lanced through her spine.

_Runrunrunrunrun—_

The three Deathstalkers around her creeped forward menacingly.

_Tiredtiredtired—_

Running was impossible, she could barely lift her arms, and her aura was nearly gone.

_Badbadbadbadbad!_

Ruby slumped down against the tree, her legs trembling as she struggled to stand up right. She slowed her train of thought, not wanting to continue it any further.

_Thinking quickly is pretty useless if none of the thoughts are helpful._

An observation that would never be put to use, at this rate. Ruby closed her eyes as her legs gave out, her tailbone colliding painfully with the ground as she fell and braced for the inevitable.

It felt as if time slowed, as she heard each individual step of each individual Deathstalker slowly pulling themselves forward. She could practically hear the muscles of their stingers flexing as they prepared to finish her, but then... nothing. The steps stopped, the air fell silent for what felt to be an eternity, and finally time seemed to resume when the battle cry of her sister pierced the air.

_Wait. Yang?!_ Ruby's eyes flew open, staring in shock at the scene in front of her. All three Deathstalkers were frozen to the ground, their legs stuck in the earth by small chunks of ice. Blake was directly beside one, flinging her ribbon up into the air towards Yang, who was jumping up higher and higher off of glyphs. At the height of the ribbon's length Yang grabbed hold, flipped upside down, and pushed off against one last glyph. Ruby watched as, at the same moment, Yang pushed, Blake yanked on the ribbon. They combined to bring Yang hurtling downwards towards the middle Deathstalker, firing more shots behind herself to speed up even further. At the last moment she extended both arms in front of her, her gauntlets crushing down into the middle of the Deathstalker's body. The Grimm scorpion crumpled underneath the force of her attack, the plate covering its torso shattering into a hundred fragments.

Ruby could feel nothing but amazement watching, marveling at the coordination of her three teammates. They quickly turned to blind the Deathstalker on the right as the ice began to crack, and the two living Grimm quickly retreated.

As her teammates approached, Ruby wondered which fate was worse. The wrath of Grimm, or the wrath of Weiss.

Weiss stopped in front of her, looking down at her coldly. The moment of truth was here.

"There's not even a point in being mad."

_...What?_

Weiss continued, sounding tired. "There's not even a point, is there? You never listen. You never think. You never honestly try to improve. Anytime you impress me with a few days of hard work, you turn around and prove how untrustworthy you are."

Yang and Blake both stood a pace back, watching cautiously. Ruby could see Yang was grinding her teeth, wanting to intervene, but she wasn't. Maybe she agreed with Weiss. No, she _probably_ agreed. Ruby couldn't remember feeling worse since she first came to Beacon.

Weiss sucked in a breath, breathing out shakily before speaking as if she were dictating fact. "_You are a waste of time._"

She turned and walked away, not glancing back at her team once. Yang and Blake immediately stepped forward to help Ruby, but stopped at a voice. "I'll be taking Miss Rose, you two can return to your dorm."

Yang whirled around to face the voice. "Professor Goodwitch?! Why... Where are you going to take Ruby?"

"First, briefly, to the infirmary. Then to the disciplinary council," Goodwitch's eye flashed fiercely as she intoned, "When a student's issued scroll is destroyed, a warning is sent out to their team in case they're alone. Another message is sent to the relevant Beacon staff members to make sure they know the situation," she paused before continuing, "Miss Rose has not only put herself in serious danger, displaying a lack of caution and judgement on her part, she also put her team in danger by drawing them into a potentially deadly situation. She—"

Yang interrupted the professor, exclaiming, "That second point can't be an offense! You saw us, we took care of it! Besides, helping teammates is part of the point of being a team! How is needing help a punishable offense?!"

Goodwitch swished her crop through the air, moving it so quickly and stopping it so abruptly that it produced an audible _crack_. "Miss Xiao Long, you will not interrupt me. The topic is not up for debate." She flicked her crop again, making Ruby squeak in surprise as she was suddenly levitated upwards. Crescent Rose collapsed down to hover in place beside her in its compact form.

"Miss Rose, do you have any outstanding injuries? Your aura appears to be unbroken, and I do not see any blood."

"... No professor, I'm fine. Just tired."

"Fine. A quick stop will be all we need before proceeding to disciplinary action."

"Yes ma'am."

Ruby glanced back once as she floated away, seeing Yang clenching her fists and staring after her while Blake rubbed the blonde's arm consolingly. The young teen sighed and closed her eyes.

_What've I done?_

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Ruby found herself staring at the ground in front of her while balancing on a lone stool in the center of the room. Around the edges of the chamber were roughly two dozen chairs, if she had to guess, but her mind was too preoccupied to count them out to be sure. On this particular occasion, however, only three seats were occupied. Directly in front of her was the headmaster, Professor Ozpin, and on either side of him were Professors Port and Goodwitch. Ozpin's face was impassive, Goodwitch's was critical, and Port's was mild interest.

"Well, Miss Rose, today _has_ been quite a day for you already, I'm sure, but unfortunately there's a bit more to go before you can return to your dorm." Ozpin's expression remained still, but his eyes held a friendly twinkle to them, and his voice was comforting. "I believe we three here already know everything what occurred this morning, leading into the afternoon, but I would still like to hear from your point of view how everything happened."

Ruby quietly told them how she had become fed up with school work, earning a look from Goodwitch that was anything _but_ reassuring. She explained how she had gone hunting in the forest alone before, safely, and had decided to do so again. This earned an understanding and friendly nod from Port. She explained she had been surrounded by a force she couldn't hope to beat, and she would have died if her scroll hadn't been crushed earlier in the fight, and her team had come to rescue her. Ozpin nodded in acceptance, not doubting her word at any point in the story.

"Well, clearly something will have to be done," Goodwitch spoke sharply, seemingly trying to disallow argument from her fellows, "There is _no_ excuse for her endangering herself _and_ her team. Clearly, Miss Rose does not have the level of decision making we uphold team leaders having in Beacon."

Not to be suppressed by her tone, Port replied, "It was a lapse of judgement, deserving punishment, but accusing her of _lacking_ judgement altogether would be rash. The girl's only fifteen, and in the months since she was made leader this is the first time any outstanding demerit against her ability as a leader. She and Miss Schnee have—"

"Professor Port, might I remind you that partners can help each other? For years I've argued for more individual evaluations than end of the year exams, but we still keep partners working together on nearly everything. Miss Schnee and Miss Rose do not, beyond any doubt in my mind, put an equal amount of effort into their work. Their projects are nearly always covered in evidence that Miss Schnee does the majority of the effort. Only recently did that change, but now, with this—"

"You're letting emotions cloud your own judgement, Glynda."

During the back and forth Ozpin remained still, giving no signs Ruby could see that he was paying attention. Upon clearing his throat, however, both other professors fell quiet to let him speak. "Then, shall we simply make them document what they do? If Miss Rose demonstrates her aptitude to work responsibly, would that be satisfactory for you, Professor Goodwitch? I am in agreement with Port on this issue, I feel she's already learned a lesson. Her teammates were, fortunately, not endangered when they went to her, and even if they had been you were there... Though I understand your frustration, given your high hopes for Miss Rose, I insist on a 'no harm, no foul' approach. The only true harm done was done to her, and that is her punishment. As for a scroll being lost... well, we have plenty of those. We don't, however, have plenty of potential huntresses of her caliber."

Silence reigned for several seconds as Ruby eagerly strained her ears for Goodwitch's reply, as if doing so would somehow let her hear the reply earlier.

"You know I don't like letting potential go to waste... or treating those with it any differently. At the least, I insist they document their work, and Miss Rose attend three hour-long sessions of detention with me. I'll discuss with her more there."

Ozpin nodded his acceptance, saying, "Miss Rose, you may go. Professor Goodwitch will contact you at her leisure to schedule these detentions. Your replacement scroll will be taken care of tomorrow."

Ruby hastily stood and power walked out, as it was her most dignified means of fleeing from the room. She closed the door behind her as quickly as possible, breathing a small sigh of relief when it was shut. Her heart was hammering in her chest like a drum, and now that she wasn't trying to keep it together for appearances, she thought she might be hyperventilating.

_I thought I was going to be kicked out of Beacon._

Ruby started unsteadily walking down the hall, mind not focused on where she was going.

_I thought I was going to be kicked out of Beacon._

She began descending the stairs slowly, only paying enough attention to ensure she didn't slip.

_I thought I was going to be kicked out at a younger age than most people are let in._

She made her way out of the staircase and to the door of the building, gripping the handle tightly.

_I thought I was going to lose my team. What would Yang have said? Would she have ever looked at me again?_

She pushed the exit open, stepping out into the afternoon heat. The shining sun did little to warm her clammy skin, unfortunately.

_I never would have seen Weiss or Blake again._

She stopped abruptly, her mind hooking onto one part of that thought.

_Weiss._

She remembered the way the icy girl had looked at her last, the tone of her voice, and almost started shaking.

_No! I don't want Weiss to stop caring! We promised to be the best teammates we could be! I was going to be the best leader I could be!_

Ruby's slow stumble gradually built up in speed until she was running, her boots striking the ground with a force she would normally be far more careful to avoid.

_NO! I WILL still be the best leader possible! _

Her breathing calmed and her heartbeat slowed as she sped up, the movement of both body and mind helping to reassure her.

_... I can't lose her._

Ruby sprinted the rest of the way to the dorms, paying no mind to anything else but her goal. Weiss Schnee had to be brought back around.

* * *

Weiss felt an odd emptiness in her chest, as if something that had been there was now gone. She resolutely ignored it, trying her best to shut the world out. She lay on her bed with her back facing the room, choosing to stare blankly at the wall. Blake and Yang had both entered not long after her, but had quickly left again, not speaking to her nor each other while they were there. She didn't care, though.

_What is WRONG with me?_

The thought echoed in her head over and over again. What was wrong with her? Emotions were difficult to deal with. Too difficult. She wished she could remember how to shut them out as well as she once could.

But she couldn't. So instead, she analyzed. She judged herself, trying to figure out what the problem was. The source was obvious, Ruby the dolt was the cause. But, she had been a dolt a million times before, and it wasn't the first time she had put her life in danger.

So why did Weiss feel so... betrayed?

Her musings were interrupted by the door to their dorm banging open, Ruby barreling in with it and quickly slamming it shut behind her. Without saying anything, Weiss heard Ruby then hurry over to their bunk bed. There she stood, Weiss presumed, looking at her partner to speak.

She wasn't going to. Weiss clutched her elbows tightly and started at the wall, unwilling to turn to Ruby or to speak first. She had nothing to apologize for, and nothing to say until the apology was said.

A soft rustling of fabric was made from Ruby's skirt as the other girl kneeled down, putting her hands on the edge of Weiss's mattress, mere inches away from the heiress herself.

"Weiss, listen, I know you don't wanna talk to me right now. I screwed up, but it was an accident! I swear, I'll never do something that dumb again! Please, please, pleeeaaaase give me another chance!"

Weiss remained quiet, only tilting her head a bit to give Ruby an indication that she was listening.

"I know you've already forgiven me once, and we promised, and I messed up. But, you know, Yang always says—"

"I don't care what Yang says. Speak with your own words." Weiss surprised herself with how cold she managed to make her voice, but she gave no indication of this surprise to Ruby.

"Okay. You're right. Look, I think mistakes happen. Some mistakes are worse than others. But I don't think there are any things that _can't_ be forgiven. If a person is willing to change and puts effort into it, doesn't that mean just as much as anything they did wrong?" Ruby spoke quickly, as if she were trying to hide the desperate edge her tone held. She was, Weiss realized with a start, _truly_ distraught.

_Why is she so upset? Because I'm upset?_

_ ...That doesn't help at all, I don't even know why I'm so upset to begin with._

Weiss finally sat up and turned to look Ruby in the eyes, the other girl's silver irises capturing Weiss's gaze.

"Yes, fine, anything can be forgiven if the person has changed. Why do you _think _I don't hold anything against Blake? Because she left? Leaving an organization doesn't mean anything. It can be over something as stupid as an argument, or because a member accidentally broke a rule. What matters is that Blake is _here_, working to apply herself to make the world a better place," she paused for breath before continuing, her tone heavy, "What have you done, Ruby? You were admitted two years early, but you've done nothing but show off your immaturity since then. Then, one day, you seem to get better. Until something happens, you stop seeming to care or you just have a lapse of judgement, then you start behaving poorly again until I snap at you. What's the point of this cycle?"

Ruby said nothing, her eyes tearing up a bit as Weiss spoke. Seeing no reply was coming, Weiss continued again, "I'll admit something, Ruby. You've changed me whether for the better or worse I can't be sure. What I can know for sure is this: all I've gotten out of it so far is pain. Every time you slip up, it hurts. My expectations are thrown back in my face, I feel like I've been made a fool of. But that's only part of it. Every time you mess up, my chest aches for _you_. I don't understand how you manage to lapse back so much, but it seems like your potential is being wasted on your immaturity. That's all I can see, so far."

Weiss lied back down, facing the wall again. She didn't want to look into Ruby's eyes any longer.

She stiffened a bit when she felt a hand on her arm, but continued staring at the wall indifferently. She was resolved not to let herself be moved tonight, not to give in to her partner.

"I understand."

_What?_

"I've messed up a lot. But I _have_ grown more mature, so I can accept your anger. I won't try to convince you with words any more, promise. All I have to do is make it up to you by being the best team leader possible, right?"

Weiss didn't look back, carefully controlling her breathing to make it steady even as her eyes watered a bit.

"Weiss? Is that okay?"

"... Yes. If you can do that, Ruby, everything will be fine."

Ruby's skirt rustled a bit again as she stood, her steps much softer than before as she walked to the door. She opened it slowly, pausing to ask, "Are you going to come to dinner? Do you want me to get you something?"

"I'll be there soon, don't steal anything."

"Okay." With that, Ruby left, and Weiss was alone again.

Now, though, her chest felt much lighter, and her mind was no longer brewing dark thoughts. Instead, once again, hope and an inexplicable warmth once again lit a fire within the heiress, slowly melting away her icy exterior.

_Really... What's happened to me?_

* * *

"So how'd it go with the committee?" Blake's tone was a mixture of cautious and friendly, even though her question was painfully blunt.

"Fine. I have a few detentions with Professor Goodwitch, and Weiss and I have to mark who did what on projects. It's not that bad."

"More importantly, how did you deal with that ice queen?" Yang was clearly bursting with curiosity, and the look in her eyes was a bit dangerous. It was the type of look that let Ruby know her sister was raring to defend her... Even though it wasn't normally needed, and sometimes even made things worse.

"Yang! She's not an 'ice queen!'"

Yang raised an eyebrow at this remark, cooly replying, "You sure seem to be eager to defend her, given that she tried to tear you down, just like she did with Blake."

Blake herself flinched a bit from this comment, but made no move to deny it. Instead, she quietly said, "But she's gotten better, Yang. We're friends now. She learned to let go of something that passed, you should too."

Ruby was amazed by the effect the quiet reprimand had on her sister, who quietly growled in frustration while looking away instead of arguing the point further.

"Still, I am curious... How _did _it go?" This time Blake directed the question towards Ruby, her eyes warm.

"It went fine. We're going to be fine." Ruby's reply was curt, still not wanting to discuss it.

_Everything will be fine. It has to be._

"Watch out, here comes the queen herself," Yang muttered into her palm, still looking away.

"Hello, everyone." Weiss sat down with a tray of food, not looking at anyone in particular. Her voice sounded nearly the same as it usually did, cool and collected, but unlike normal she sounded a bit disinterested. Normally Weiss focused well on the things surrounding her, but for now it seemed she was still lost in her own thoughts. That was fine with Ruby, she didn't really want to talk to Weiss at the moment.

She had meant what she had said. From now until she regained Weiss's trust, she wouldn't use words to do it. Ruby would prove to Weiss that she had what it took, no matter what. She would not lose Weiss over something as stupid as this.

The rest of the meal continued in relative silence, since the regularly chatty Yang was still miffed from Blake's chastisement. They retired to their dorm early, all exhausted from the day's events, all looking forward to a better next day.

* * *

_**A/N: **_**Hi everyone. Hope you're all doing well, this finds you in good health, in peace, and in happiness, yada yada yada, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you to LazyKatze for helping me out again and all that, she's fantastic, great, amazing, yada yada yada...**

**If you can't tell, I have no idea what to say in this note. Yet it feels mandatory that I make one. So I made one. We're done here, right?**

**Cool, see ya'll next time.**


	5. See You Space Cowboy

I was considering just deleting my stories, but that feels like an even bigger dick move than this. Still, I don't want to leave everyone hanging (like I have been) for forever.

Low down: I don't think I'm going to be writing any more. I appreciate those of you who supported me while it lasted. Maybe I'll have a change of heart and return in the future, but I wouldn't count on it. So, for now...

Bye bye.


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